Conducting an Executive Search to appoint a Chief Medical Officer to provide leadership to improve health care, advocating for the clinical workforce into the future and delivering reform and improvement in the system.
The Brief
This state-based, public health directorate engaged Future Leadership to appoint four clinical leadership positions as part of a team of expert clinicians who would be pivotal in the reform agenda of the directorate. This health directorate sought to appoint a highly qualified and experienced Chief Medical Officer, in addition to a Chief Allied Health Officer, Chief Nursing & Midwifery Officer and Chief Psychiatrist.
As part of this newly formed Clinical Leadership Team, the Chief Medical Officer will provide leadership and oversight of the Directorate’s clinical governance agenda, inclusive of quality and safety. They will work with state and territory jurisdictional peers around strategic issues affecting the health care workforce, specifically the medical professions, and nurture strong partnerships with a range of internal and external stakeholders. A review prior to this executive search process highlighted the need for both local and whole system leadership, to work highly cohesively amongst the Clinical chief group to enhance the cross-over for inter, and multi-discipline. As part of this leadership team, the Chief Medical Officer will also provide advice across the directorate and to the Director General and Minister.
Reporting to the Deputy Director General, Policy and Transformation, the CMO is the principal reference point for informing strategic policy issues pertaining to the medical profession. This is a key position for the provision of leadership and continuous improvement in clinical practice and models of care, professional development, education, teaching, and quality improvement activities.
Candidate net Promote Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
The Process
The Future Leadership team met with key stakeholders to complete a comprehensive brief for the appointment. It was identified that the Chief Medical Officer would need to bring a relational style, with credibility and the ability to step onto the national stage and influence across the region. A large part of the position will be to deliver on reform work and provide strategic professional leadership and policy direction for the health system through influence and negotiation. The Chief Medical Officer will work collaboratively to drive continuous improvement across the health system supporting innovative models of care.
It is important to note this was not an operational role as currently exist in health services. Success will come through influence, negotiation and collaboration, with the positions leveraging policy and legislation. The real skill for the appointees will be in leading change to achieve outcomes.
The searches for the appointment utilised multiple avenues to identify suitable qualified candidates including Future Leadership’s known referral partner network, candidates from recent and aligned searches, digital advertising and engagement with the medical colleges to tap into their memberships. In addition to candidate identified by the Future Leadership team, internal candidates were also managed through the process. The Future Leadership Capability Framework was a key component of the process, with all shortlisted candidates completed a psychometric assessment which provided insights into each candidate’s relative strengths and work preferences. This also provided suggested behavioural interview questions for the interview panels.
Future Leadership worked closely with our client to coordinate multiple interview panels including logistical management, reference checking for the preferred appointments and support for offer negotiation.
Emerging Capabilities
Strategy and Purpose
Develops and leads strategy for the function/organisation, taking a broad and long-term perspective. Understands and considers context. Communicates and gains buy-in to the function/organisation goals, direction and vision, promoting change initiatives.
Adaptability and Resilience
Demonstrates positivity, curiosity, and the ability to pivot when confronted with change, pressure, adversity and disruption. Responsive to strategic environmental, social and corporate challenges and opportunities.
Culture and Engagement
Fosters a positive culture, creating a sense of belonging and inclusiveness. Creates an environment that encourages diverse perspectives and facilitates a psychologically safe environment.
Sustainability, Ethics and Integrity
Prioritises the environment in making decisions and leading others. Operates with integrity and aligns self to a high standard of social, cultural and professional standards of conduct. Adheres to moral and ethical principles. Draws on values to inform behaviour.
Stakeholder Relations
Establishes rapport with stakeholders, builds and sustains trusted and collaborative relationships. Identifies and draws on relevant and diverse perspectives and integrates them to support productive interactions.
Critical Thinking
Gathers and examines different data points, testing for assumptions and gaps in logic; reframes problems and presents well-reasoned insights considering diverse perspectives. Analyses, interprets and objectively evaluates information enabling judgements.
The Outcome
The process to appoint the Chief Medical Officer successfully completed with the appointee commencing in late May 2024. The appointee is an expert in clinical governance, safety and quality, medical workforce, and incident management. A strategic and passionate healthcare leader, the incoming Chief Medical Officer brings experience in management, regulation, accreditation, and government policy. The panel were impressed with their skill in both research and clinical governance, combined with an ability to develop relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and manage projects.
The inclusion of psychometric assessment in the process, along with a debrief from the Future leadership organisational psychologist, supported the appointment of a highly functioning executive who would work together with the other clinical chiefs appointed to shape strategic thinking, support the stewardship function of the directorate, and bring an interdisciplinary mindset.
Future Leadership gave expert guidance throughout the process. From my first contact to find out more about the position and the key skills through to the last interview stage, the Future Leadership team anticipated what would be needed for me to put my best responses forward. Their personal approach was warm and engaging and the high level of communication meant I understood all steps and the timing in the recruitment process. They even checked in during a slight delay to keep me informed so I wasn’t worried about delays.
